705red posted "But a customer did show me how they could compare rates between us and freight, which would/could lead to our packages being diverted through freight. "

Lets say customer A has a shipment of 20 packages, total weight of 450 lbs. They are comparing rates between UPS Hundredweight, UPS Freight, Fedex Ground, Fedex Freight and a few other LTL companies as many customers do nowadays. Normally, a customer has to call all these companies for a price quote or go to their website or use their software.

If transit time is equal amongst these carriers, then chances are they are going to look at who has the cheapest price and which is the easiest way to ship.

If the decision comes down to who has the best rate but UPS makes cost comparisons easy between their LTL and Hundredweight service as well as allows the customer to ship LTL through their WorldShip service, who stands the best chance of winning the business?

If Fedex Freight (or any LTL carrier) has the same price as UPS Freight, which carrier do you want the customer to ship with?

If UPS small package never had this shipment in the first place, is it considered diverting freight if it ships via (union) UPS Freight?

A driver here has a friend who dispatches for UPS Freight in Indy and she told him that their guys have been making parcel deliveries. Haven't heard about it in our area andI know how the rumor mill goes. This guy is pretty much straight up and has alot of contacts, though.

A driver here has a friend who dispatches for UPS Freight in Indy and she told him that their guys have been making parcel deliveries.

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I'd bet that the dispatcher is confusing a residential delivery with a parcel delivery. It is not that uncommon for a residence to receive an LTL delivery. We had our vertical blinds delivered by Yellow, they were way too big for UPS, so they had to come via LTL.

I'd bet that the dispatcher is confusing a residential delivery with a parcel delivery. It is not that uncommon for a residence to receive an LTL delivery. We had our vertical blinds delivered by Yellow, they were way too big for UPS, so they had to come via LTL.

they have told us that they are taking hundredweight deliveries that freight had and putting them into the ups parcel system, as long as the boxes are under 150. But one thing I have noticed is a stronger ups freight presence in my areas and less yellow and roadway.

they have told us that they are taking hundredweight deliveries that freight had and putting them into the ups parcel system, as long as the boxes are under 150. But one thing I have noticed is a stronger ups freight presence in my areas and less yellow and roadway.

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kinda sorta. in a nutshell, we have a new program called ground with freight pricing. There is a $8 billion dollar a year opportunity of freight that goes on a pallet, that could go small package (meaning it can be shipped through the small package system based on individual package charactoristics of the shipment)

we give customers the ability to rate these shipments that would normally go LTL using their negotiated freight pricing, but then have it go small package.

it is going to be a game changer. CWT will probably fizzle out eventually.

kinda sorta. in a nutshell, we have a new program called ground with freight pricing. There is a $8 billion dollar a year opportunity of freight that goes on a pallet, that could go small package (meaning it can be shipped through the small package system based on individual package charactoristics of the shipment)

we give customers the ability to rate these shipments that would normally go LTL using their negotiated freight pricing, but then have it go small package.

it is going to be a game changer. CWT will probably fizzle out eventually.

There is a $8 billion dollar a year opportunity of freight that goes on a pallet, that could go small package (meaning it can be shipped through the small package system based on individual package charactoristics of the shipment)

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This might be the topic for another thread, but the quote is here......

Does anyone at UPS ask,"Should this stuff really go through the small package system???"

As our sorting is more and more automated and we rely on slides and gravity to do work, we are seeing more and more damages caused by LTL freight sliding into true small package freight. A pallet of paper or a partial pallet of boxed catalogs (or other printed material, you're seen the 50 lb boxes about the size of a battery....) can cause lots of damage when it hits a slide and a bunch of 5-10 lb boxes are at the bottom to 'stop' them.

Then, there is also the fact that much of this freight is backed to be on pallets. The packing cannot/ does not meet the rigors of a UPS sort system. It is embarrassing to deliver some of this LTL freight when 1/2-3/4's have been rewrapped.

The average ebay package does not have a chance if it loaded in the bottom third of a tier and all of a sudden, a pallet or 2 of catalogs of paper gets loaded on top of it.

Are we figuring in the damages when we price this volume???? How about worker's comp claims on loaders and unloaders??

Just because some volume can move through the system, does not mean that it should.